Zac, Jan and I anxiously waited news on the outcome of Zac’s recent Midget Major competitive try-out; the phone call at last came.
“Hello, this is Coach Jake,”
OMG, Jake Couts is the Major AA coach. Zac made AA?! Out of roughly forty skaters, our son made the cut! The rest of the phone call affirmed that our son, Zac Alexander had successfully made the Major AA hockey squad. As a family we were thrilled.
The first order of business was to call Grandpa Frank, Aunt Judi, and various brothers/sisters in-law, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors and give them all the good news.
Another call comes in, this from the assistant coach;
“Hello, this is the assistant coach of the Major A team. I want to let you know that your son has made our team”.
I was a little taken aback, to say the least. I responded to him; Gee coach, we just learned that Zac has made the Major AA team too. It is going to be tough to get him to all the practices and games for both teams, but we’ll do our best. I think he got a little annoyed with me. Coach went on to explain when practice was and to have him there ready to skate at five minutes before ice time.
Well, “five minutes before ice time” threw up a red flag. Any coach worth his salt would want the kids there an hour before ice time, whereby the seasons rules and expectations could be laid out. That notwithstanding we agreed to get Zac to the Major A practice on time.
Zac was plenty sweaty upon coming back from the rink; a good sign. I asked Zac how the team looked. His response led me understand that as a group, they were a pretty weak bunch. Apparently only six skaters showed up. I pressed Zac on how the coaches seemed. I got a typical teen aged one word response: “Stupid”.
One week later we get another phone call. This one informs us that the Major A team had been dissolved due to “lack of participation”. My reaction: WTF!!!
NHL Prospects
The experience of most hockey families are that their kids all hope to play in the NHL someday. As time passes and the kids go from Mites, to Squirts, to Bantams… expectations are lowered. However, for the sake of argument lets say our kids are Bantams and will be moving onto Midgets in the next season. Is it possible a motivated player can make the NHL? Yes, it is possible, but not probable. The last statistics I saw on the subject put the odds at one in thirty thousand. The statistics will get worse for the player who doesn’t have a competitive team to play on. Consider the plight of Jerad Bussell.
Jerad’s Story
As of this writing, Jerad Bussell is a thirteen year old first year Bantam. Jerad still believes and wants to play in the NHL. He has played on both recreational and competitive teams. Wherever he has played, he has always been among the teams leading points earners, in both goals and assists. Last season Jerad was lucky enough to have payed both on the recreational team and the competitive Bantam B team. He was number one in points on his recreational team and third place in total points with the Bantam B team; ten goals and seven assists.
Notification of try-out results came to the Bussell family; “Ethan has made the Bantam B team!” Ethan?! Ethan was not trying out and in fact plays at the midget level. This was quickly cleared up and Jerad was excitedly off to his first practice. While he was allowed on the ice, he was shockingly notified that final team selections had not been made. Two weeks later he was dropped from the team.
Odds of playing in the NHL are slim. What about high school hockey. What about college hockey? All of us hockey parents know how eager our kids are to play on the high school team, especially the varsity. I’m sure if a kid can get into college, they are going to want to play on the college hockey team. It is my opinion that without the opportunities that competitive hockey affords, chances of moving ahead to ones hockey potential is becomes limited. Here we have a situation where the player, body, mind and parental support, is willing, but the system has no place for them. What are the options?
Hockey is Not For Everyone
Facts are facts, you can’t get around em. I’m not going to sell the house and move my kids to a new hockey town where they have a competitive team my kid can play for. But then, that’s me. I do personally know one dad who is researching having his kid play in Sweden, where they have high schools dedicated to hockey players only. I’m hoping Zac can find an opportunity with another organization, or step up to adult hockey. If he can wrap his mind around it he wouldn’t be the first to do so.
In the past I have written on why kids quit sports as they grow older. I pointed out in a 2007 blog post how most casual observers blame “burnout” or “over zealous parents and coaches”. I now add to my list: ‘less than adequate hockey programs’. I can count off a dozen kids, who due to our local organizations impediments, have left hockey for other programs or pursuits. I hope mine doesn’t become one of them.
